Outdoors: Fishing thriving around the New England

Monday

Jun 9, 2014 at 10:08 PMJun 9, 2014 at 10:36 PM

Mark Blazis

Fishing exploded right after Mother's Day throughout New England's saltwater fishery and has been hot since. Lost in the ocean frenzy was the news of an 8-pound, 1-ounce largemouth taken out of Wallum Lake. That's a noteworthy trophy any year in Massachusetts. Several 6- and 7-pound bass have been caught and released on their spawning beds.

Shad fishing has been excellent on the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers. More than 300,000 shad have passed over the Hadley Falls Fish Lift, along with at least 621 blueback herring, 195 gizzard shad, 10 striped bass, 5,540 sea lamprey and 12 Atlantic salmon. As long as river temperatures don't heat up too much, the run should continue, though operations at the fish lift for the public cease June 15.

More and more eagles' nests

MassWildlife has recorded about 48 active eagle nests across Massachusetts. Our richest nesting area is along the Connecticut River where open water, abundant fish, and suitable big tree habitat combine to host 11 active nests. The Merrimack River has four nesting pairs. Locally, Wachusett Reservoir and Pine Hill Reservoir had single breeding pairs, and Quabbin is expected, once surveys that were limited by ice are concluded, to have about 11 breeding pairs. Happily, four new nests were discovered this year, in Ipswich, Lenox, Northbridge and Royalston. MassWildlife ornithologist Andrew Vitz encourages citizen observers to report additional nest sights to natural.heritage@state.ma.us.

Good news from Webster Lake: shoreline resident Tom Pezzella reports two bald eagle chicks hatching in the nest there. Bad news: the nest has lures and fishing line in it.

Crossbow season in NY

There finally will be a crossbow season in New York despite local bow hunter groups' resistance. Crossbows will be legal for only a portion of the archery season. In that respect, bow hunters not wanting additional competition from crossbow hunters won a victory — at least temporarily. Wisconsin, like many other states, recently made crossbows legal during all of archery season, and Minnesota made them legal for hunters 60 and over.

Massachusetts is one of the few states left that allows them only for handicapped shooters. Our state law is difficult to justify when you think of the number of other legal deer hunting weapons that are far more accurate at greater distances, and much easier to use, than crossbows.

TenPoint Crossbows, which makes arguably the Rolls Royce of the industry, just came out with another winner, the Venom. Despite a hefty price tag of about $1,700, many shooters — myself included — are finding it difficult to get one. Their carbon barrels are produced one at a time, and with new legislation making crossbows legal in many states, the demand is outstripping the supply. If you want a Venom for the upcoming season, you should order one now.

More on the crossbow front: PSE, Inc. has recalled its TAC Elite, TAC Ordnance and Enigma Crossbows manufactured and shipped from June 1 through Nov. 1, 2013. Some may have release mechanisms that cause premature firing or accidental discharge as the bow reaches full draw.

Similarly, Excalibur's Matrix 405 crossbows sold after Jan. 1, 2014, may have accidental discharge problems and also are being recalled. This appears to involve the sear contacts wearing prematurely due to a differential in hardness between the two sear contact areas within the trigger mechanism. As a result, the crossbow may fire when an arrow/bolt is in place, but without the trigger being depressed.

Cabela's is coming

Are there any local veteran outdoorsmen who don't own something from Cabela's? Probably not many, despite the fact that the very first Cabela's store in Massachusetts won't be completed until 2015.

To be located in the southeast quadrant of Interstate 495 and Central Street in the Highland Commons Shopping Center on the border of Berlin and Hudson, the new Cabela's will prove a much anticipated shopping destination replete with all the essential quality equipment a hunter or fisherman needs — as well as a museum taxidermy game display that in itself will be worth a visit. But one critically important man won't be there to see it — Dick Cabela, the company's founder who passed away this past winter at his home in Sidney, Nebraska.

The 77-year-old visionary started his company in his kitchen, advertising for sale flies he had bought on a trip to Chicago. He discovered the power of national advertising, placing an ad in Sports Afield. Initially offering an incentive of free flies, he began sending out a modest catalog for mail-order purchases. He would create a new industry model that many of today's other giant outdoors companies follow. He loved Africa and hunted enthusiastically there.

I dimly recall the privilege of meeting him when we crossed paths shopping in Tanzania. He expressed an interest in large African hardwood carvings.

How great will the patriarch's loss be? I'm reminded of our community's great loss of Anthony "Spag" Borgatti, the incomparable and beloved father of my first favorite sporting goods store on Route 9 in Shrewsbury. For those who might not remember, Spag's provided many of us our first reels, rods and hunting ammunition.

We either went there or to Kukonen's fly shop on Green Street. Some of us made the long trek to Freeport, Maine, to enter an authentic L.L. Bean's that actually catered exclusively to fishermen.

Everything went down hill fast when Spag left us. Hopefully, Cabela's remains in strong hands.